Samsung Galaxy Round: the First Curved OLED Phone

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Round, a new Android smartphone equipped with a 5.7-inch curved OLED display.

By IGN Staff

Samsung was one of the first companies to offer curved OLED televisions, and now it can say it's the first to announce a smartphone with a curved OLED display too. Meet theSamsung Galaxy Round, a new Android handset that features a 5.7-inch curved AMOLED screen that is set to launch tomorrow, October 10th, in Korea.

Unlike earlier smartphones from Samsung like the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus—both of which used curved glass—the Galaxy Round is curved along a vertical axis, as pointed out by The Verge. It's not entirely clear what the benefits of such a design are yet, but Samsung has built in a few software features to showcase device's unique hardware.

Users can view notifications and other at-a-glance information while the screen is off by slightly rolling the phone along its curve using what the company calls the Roll Effect, and tilting the device creates a "visual interaction with the screen" with the Gravity Effect feature.

Release information beyond Korea has not been announced. The Galaxy Round will be available in Luxury Brown at launch and will sell for 1.09 million won (about $1,013).

Samsung's rival LG has started mass production of its own flexible smartphone displays. A specific device has yet to be revealed, but with Samsung's new phone already out in the open, it wouldn't be surprising if LG makes a similar announcement in the near future.

What do you think of Samsung's Galaxy Round? Let us know in the comments.